Clean the moong dhal for once or twice and add in the pressure cooker along with the chopped ridge gourd, green chilly, turmeric powder, onion and hing. Do not add salt. Add 1/2 cup of water or add water just until it covers the vegetables and the dal, pressure cook for 3 whistles. Switch off and wait off the pressure to come down.

In the mean time, add 1/4 tsp of oil in a pan and roast the dry red chilly first, followed by urad dal to goden colour, then cumin seeds for 15 secs on medium low flame. Finally add the shredded coconut and toss it for 30 scs on low flame. Cool the mixture and grind to a coarse paste adding very little water.

Open the pressure cooker and see if it's cooked enough, if not keep it for one more whistle. Else, after opening, combine the dhal and vegetable mixture thoroughly. Now add in the ground masala and the required salt to the kootu, mix well. Cover (without the weight) and cook the kootu for 4 to 5 minutes on medium low flame.

Heat the ghee and oil together in a pan and do the seasoning with the mustard seeds until it stops popping,cumin seeds until it fries evenly, followed by urad dal to golden colour and finally throw in the curry leaves and toss. Add this seasoned ingredients into the kootu and combine thoroughly. Switch off and serve with rice/pulka/roti.

Notes/Suggestions:

I din't add tomatoes, u may add 1 no. of tomato for this amount of kootu.

Also I've added more dhal to make kootu, u may add 1/4 cup of moong dhal and 1/4 cup of channa dhal if u like.

Tempering with ghee adds exceptional flavor to the dish, so add at least a little.